[sl4] Irrational motivations (was [sl4] A Thought Experiment: Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness)

From: Stuart Armstrong (dragondreaming@googlemail.com)
Date: Wed Dec 02 2009 - 12:32:07 MST


>The AGI knows that your fear of death is irrational, a product of evolution.

Sigh... Any motivation, for anything whatsoever, is irrational, in
that it does not derive from reason. Fearing death is irrational; not
fearing death is irrational; wanting an AI to make you fear/not fear
death is irrational, wanting anything at all or not wanting anything
at all is irrational. Posting on this list is irrational; refraining
from doing so is irrational; following reason is irrational. Your
whole motivation system is irrational, no matter what it is.

You might talk about certain sets of desires being inconsistent, but
you can never talk about any (non-contradictory) desire being
irrational in any absolute sense, while others are not.

Stuart



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